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Originally Posted by King Glorious
Thought this would be interesting to bring back up and see who's been the closest to being right. Currently, Durant is averaging 20 a night, is very weak on the glass with only 4.2 boards and is not much of a passer at 2.1 assists. He gets to the line 5.5 times a game and he's shooting 39.9% from the field. He's playing the 2-guard position in the NBA. Last night, I watched his game against the Lakers. He shot 6-26 from the field and scored 19 points. He had one rebound and one assist. He shot as many 3's as free throws, six each. He was guarded by Kobe Bryant during the game. I don't recall seeing him in the post at all. The Sonics had the ball for the final possession of regulation with about 20 seconds left. They got the ball to Durant on an isolation with Kobe guarding him. The shot they got from Durant was a fadeway 20-footer that wasn't even close. He had no chance of getting by Bryant and getting to the line or getting a closer shot. This is what I was saying. He's not going to be quicker on the perimeter than 2-guards in the NBA. Maybe if they put some small forwards on him, he can outquick them but not guards. And he has no post-game whatsoever. He doesn't have the size to go with his height to be able to get and hold a position on the blocks against these guys. A lot of the 2-guards in this league are bigger than he is, weight wise. He will add size as he goes along but it's my belief that it still won't make him a post player. He doesn't have that mentality. You see guys like Dirk and KG. They can do it on occassion but when it's not your mentality, it's just not. I think you can take Jamison out of the comparison because he's much more aggressive offensively and rebounds way better. Thomas and Deng are very good comparisons though. They both rebound very bad for their size (Thomas is a career 4.2 guy and he's 6'10") and are more comfortable on the perimeter than on the block. Durant is looking more and more like the guy he replaced up in Seattle, Rashard Lewis.
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As I believe I said he is not a great athlete. Durant has a wonderfully quick jump shot. He is playing on an absolutely horrid team and he is being told to shoot anytime he touches the ball. He will be a great catch and shoot player.
And he will go to the basket once he actually puts on some muscle. He is a skinny kid.
Durant is probably the weakest player in the NBA. Nahh he has to be. Should have stayed at Texas because I said so.
I think you have hit on an important theme about posting up. But the mentality that allows one to want to post up is the ability not to be moved from a spot easily.
All the guys you mention have very little lower body strength.
Garnett is so much more athletic compared to Duncan but he has never been able to guard Duncan because Duncan backs down with his ample butt and keeps Garnett stuck on the floor. You look at a guy like David Robinson and he was all muscle upstairs. But down low, no legs or butt thus no post up game. Same with most of the guys you mentioned. Rasheed Wallace can post but it is almost always followed by a jumper falling away... no chance for a tip or quick grab and put back when you do that. And Rasheed just cannot wear people down like Duncan or Shaq (when he is healthy), he cant take the beating. And part of it is he is not big enough low. His center of mass is too high to post consistently.
Lower body strength is something that I think is overlooked. Charles Barkely was incredibly strong down low and in the upper body so at 6' 5" or 6' 6" he was a great post up player.